Slide fastened trouser fly construction



a 2- A. B. RHOADS ETAL 2,277,832

SLIDE FASTENED TROUSER FLY CONSTRUCTION Filed July 3,, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet 1 .Illlll March 31, 1942. A, BJRHOADS 'ETAL 2,277,832

SLIDE FASTENED TROUSER FLY CONSTRUCTION Filed July 3, 1940 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 31 19 fl2 SLIDE .FASTENED. TROUSER FLYCONSTRUCTION Albert B. Rhoads, Saegertown, and William D. Craig,Meadville, Pa, assignors to Talon,'lnc., a corporation of PennsylvaniaApplication July 3, 1940, Serial No. 343,704 3 Claims. (Cl. 2-234) Thisinvention relates to trouser garments and, in particular, to theprovision of new and improved slide fastened trouser fly constructions.

It is an object of this invention to provide in trouser garments a newand improved slide fastened trouser fly construction embodying a slidefastener which is completely concentric with respect to the garmentfront and which fly construction is particularly adapted to the use ofregular slide fasteners comprising complementary slide fastenerstringers supporting a longitudinally movable slider, which stringersare connected at their lower ends by a conventional bottom stop orbottom end fitting, obviating the necessity for use of cross tapes ortension reinforcing strips heretofore'foundnecessary in trouser flyconstruction.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a trouser flyconstruction wherein the fastener covering flaps, formed by the adjacenttrouser front panel edges, are in abutting relationship approximatelycentrally of the slide fastener, instead of overlapped, thus producing athin, flat and neat trouser fly construction.

It is a further object of thisinvention to provide a new and improvedmethod of trouser fly construction providing utmost ease and convenienceof assembly.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a methodwherein the trouser front panels are temporarily connected by bastingprior to and independently of attachment of the fly assembly to thegarment front panels, and whereby the location of the trouser frontpanels with respect to one another is fixed independently of the flyassembly attaching operations, the construction of the fly comprising adistinct and independent part of the method.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear fromthe following description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings which form a part thereof, and will be pointed out in theappended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view, in perspective, of a trouser garmentembodying a fly construction according to this invention, with the flypartly open;

Fig. 2 is a section taken substantially on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view of notched right and left trouser frontpanels illustrating the first step of the method of this invention;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, but showin alignment of the panelsof Fig. 3, by the notches provided therein, and the connection of theinner edges of the panels permanently, by stitching, below the notchesand temporarily, by basting, above the notches;

Fig. 5 is a view, in perspective, of the fly assembly utilized in themethod of this invention; and

Fig. 6 is a. view illustrating the attachment of the fly assembly ofFig. 5 to the connected trouser front panels illustrated in Fig. 4.

In trouser fly constructions of the prior art, there was substantialoverlapping of the edges of the trouser front panels in order to providea flap overlying and covering the slide fastener in the fly, whlch'slidefastener was generally arranged on a curved line. The necessity forpadding or otherwise reinforcing the. relatively wide flap overlying andcovering the slide fastener was occasioned by the need for preventing"embosslng which occurs upon pressing of the overlying flap of thetrouser fly down upon the underlying fastener. The cost of the garmentwas substantially increased by this necessity for padding or lining thisflap because of thehigh cost of materials suitable for use inreinforcing the flap and also due to the substantial amount of highlyskilled labor necessary to install this reinforcement or lining.

Furthermore, in forming these prior art constructions, the stringers ofthe'fastener were generally independently applied each to one of thetrouser front panels and a cross tape, tension member, or strengtheningtape was used, adjacent the lower end of the fastener, to connect thesides and/or fastener stringers together and prevent damage to the flyconstruction.

The independent application of the separate stringers of the fastener,of course, required a high degree of skill in locating these members insuch manner that, when the trouser front panels were thereafterconnected, th stringers would be in proper alignment for proper meshingand unmeshing of the interlocking fastener members of the stringers inthe finished garment without the occurrence of wrinkling or puckering ofthe trouser fly portion. Furthermore, the separate application of thestringers to the garment, of necessity, required an extremelytime-consuming, tedious, and inconvenient operation, namely, theapplication of the fastenerslider to the lower ends of the attachedstringer tapes which were threaded therethrough.

According to the principles of this invention, all of the abovedisadvantages are totally obviated, in addition to the simplification ofthe trounarrowness of the free abutting flaps which cover the straightline slide fastener.

The above improved construction is achieved as follows:

The left and right trouser front panels at the fly portion are providedat their inner edges with aligning indicia, such as notches, and theseinner edges are connected together, permanently throughout a part oftheir length by stitching,

and temporarily throughout the remainderof their length by basting.

Independently of this attachment of the left and right trouser frontpanels, a fly assembly is prepared, which consists of a suitably lind orreinforced fly-piece of garment material, to which one stringer of theslide fastener is secured by stitching. The slide fastener is preferablyof the regular type provided with a slider and having a conventionalbottom stop permanently connecting the lower ends of the stringer tapes.

After the left and right trouser front panels have been connected, asabove described, the fly assembly is installed by securing the freefastener stringer tape to one of the trouser front panels by stitching(preferablydouble row) extending downwardly from the top edge of thepanel at one side of the basting, similar stitching extending upwardlyat the other side of the basting to secure the other stringer tape andattached lined fly-piece to the other trouser front panel. Theattachment of the left and right trouser front panels, prior toattachment of the fly assembly, absolutely insures proper location ofall parts of the fly portion of the garment and complete coverage of thefastener by the centrally abutting panel edges in theflnished' garment.Following the above-described attachment of the fly assembly to thegarment, the waistband of the garment may be secured to the front panelthereof and the basting thereafter ripped, as shown in Fig. 2, tocomplete the garment. As an alternative, however, the severing orripping of the basting, illustrated in Fig. 2, may be accomplished priorto attachment of the garment waistband, if desired.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the illustrative trouser garmentshown in Figs. 1 and 2 incorporates a fly construction according to thisinvention. The garment body comprises back panels forming the back II?of the garment, a right trouser front panel II, and a left trouser frontpanel I2, the upper edges of the panels be-' ing provided with aconventional waistband construction comprising the waistband Id oftrouser material with suitable waistband lining I5.

Suitable means such as buttonholes I5 and complementary buttons II areprovided for connecting the ends of the waistband together, and meanssuch as belt loops I 8 and/ or suspender buttons I9 may be provided forsupport of the garment, by the waistband, about the waist of the wearer.The above-described structure is conis likewise disposed on a straightline.

ventional, the principles of this invention being applied to the flyportion of the garment.

In the fly construction of the garment, a single fly or fly-piece 20underlies the fly opening. The edges of the right and left front panelsI I and I2 adjacent the fly opening are turned over inwardly uponthemselves to form narrow pleats or flaps 2! and 22 respectively, whichare adapted for substantialabutting relationship to define the edges ofthe fly opening which overlies the shield or fly-;piece 20. One stringertape of the slide fastener is secured between the shield or flypiece 20and the-right trouser front panel li and the other stringer tape of theslide fastener is stitched directly to the inner side of the lefttrouser front panel I2 adjacent the front opening, as hereinafterdescribed.

Due to the narrowness of the abutting pleats or flaps 2| and 22, thereis no necessity for padding or reinforcing these flaps or pleats toprevent embossing" when the trouser garment is pressed. The eliminationof this hitherto indispensable padding or reinforcement makes possiblethe achievement of a thinner trouser fly construction than washeretofore possible. The thinness of this trouser fly construction issubstantially enhanced by the use of a single fly-piece or shield 20instead of using two such fly-pieces which was formerly common practice.

The abutting edges of the pleats or flaps 2| and 22 are straight and theunderlying slide fastener- This straight line arrangement of the slidefastener achieves the utmost efliciency in operation of the fastenerbecause a slide fastener operates more easily and efflciently whenstraight than when disposed ona curved line.

The sequence of the main operations necessary for construction of thetrouser fly construction illustrated in Fig. 1 is shown. respectively,in Figs. 3, 4. 5, 6 and 2.

In beginning to assemble the trouser fly construction, a right frontpanel I I and left front panel I! having complementary, similar edges IIa and I2a adjacent the fly-forming portion are provided with notches Ilb and The right and left trouser front panels II and I2 are thensuperposed one on the other, as shown in Fig. 4, with the edges II a andMa aligned and with the notches IIb and I2b also in alignment. Thecurved parts of the edge portions Ilc and We below the notches IIb andI2b which are to be disposed below the fastener in the finished fly, arethen permanently secured together by permanent stitching 23, while thestraight parts of the edge portions above the notches Ilb and l2b aretemporarily secured together by basting 24.

The above referred to edge portions I lo and Ho, which are between thebasting 24 and the edges Ho and IM respectively, are then turned overinwardly uponthe panels I I and I2. as shown in Fig. 2.

Independently of the above connection of the fly-forming portions of theright and left trouser front panels II and I2, the fly assembly, shownin'Fig. 5, is formed. This fly assembly includes the above-describedfly-piece 20 which is preferably of trouser material in the form of alongitudinal strip.

The left lateral edge portion of this fly-piece 20 is folded overbackwardly upon itself at 20a (Fig. 5). The fly lining strip 26, whichis preferably of bias cut material and which is prefer ably of greaterwidth and length than the flypiece 20, is folded over forwardly uponitself, at

I2b respectively.

each lateral edge, at 26c and 26b, respectively (Fig. The backwardlyfolded over edge portion 20a of the fly-piece 26 is then placed over theleft-hand forwardly folded over edge portion 264: of the fly lining 26and a row of stitching 21 is applied to secure the left, or free, edgeof the shield or fly-piece 20 to its. lining 26.

The other, or right. edge portion of the flypiece 20 is then alignedwith the folded-over edge portion 26b of the lining 26 preferably byinsertion between the forwardly folded-over right edge portion 26b ofthe lining and the linmg proper 26. The righthand stringer tape 29 ofthe slide fastener is then placed over this turned-over edge portion 26band the underlying edge of the fly-piece 20 and a row of stitching 28 isthen applied to attach therighthand slide fastener stringer 29, theforwardly foldedover edge portion 26b, the underlying right edge portionof the fly-piece 20 and the fly lining proper 26 together. The flyconstruction is then in the form shown in Fig. 5 and it will be seenthat, while the righthand slide fastener stringer ...tape 29 of theslide fastener is attached to .the

lined fly-piece, the left-hand fastener is attached to the linedfly-piece, the lefthand fastener stringer tape 30 is free of attachment,to the fly-piece and its lining.

The slide fastenenas shown in Fig. 5, is of conventional form comprisingright and left stringer tapes 29 and 30 respectively, each stringer tapebeing provided with a row of interlocking fastener members 3| on itsinner, reinforced, edge. The stringer tapes are secured together belowand adjacent the lower end of the rows of fastener members by aconventional bottom stop or bottom end fitting, such as the staple 32. Aslider 33, supported on the interlocking fastener members 3|, is movablelongitudinally thereon for progressively engaging and disenedge of theleft trouser front panel I! to and beyond the bottom stop 32 which isdisposed thereunder. the rows of stitching 33 and 31 terminating at theabove-described stitching 23 which permanently secures the crotchportion of the panels H and I2 together. as above described.

Following thls operation, the fly-piece is flipped across the basting 24to its normal position under the left trouser front panel i2, as shownin dotted lines in Fig. 6, and the right fastener stringer 29, with itsattached fly-piece 20 and fly lining 26, is secured to the right trouserfront panel II by stitching (preferably a double row, formed by thelines of stitching 36 and 39) extending upwardly from the termination ofthe above-described lines of stitching 36 and 31 to the top edge of theright trouser front panel I l.

gaging the respective interlocking fastener members of the tapesprogressively to connect and disconnect the inner edges of the tape andopen and close the fastener. The slider is preferably provided with apull tab 34 of known form to facilitate manual movement of' the sliderwith respect to the stringer tapes, and conventional top stops 35 (Fig.5) may be provided at the upper end of each row of interlocking fastenermembers 3| positively to limit upward movement of the slider 33,although these top stops may, if desired, be omitted.

As stated above, the formation of the fly assembly shown in Fig. 5 istotally independent of the connection of the trouser front panels H andi2, as shown in Fig. 4.

After the front panels II and I2 are connected by the stitching 23 andbasting 24, as shown in Fig. 4, the front surfaces thereof are laid upona flat surface and the edge portions Ho and I20, which are thenuppermost, are laid over upon the inner or back surface of the panels IIand I2.

Thereafter, the connected panels II and i2 are turned over and the flyassembly is placed under the aforementioned basted seam with the.

the right trouser front panel After the double rows of stitching as, 31and 38, 39 are applied, the, lower end portion of the lined fly-piece 26is secured to the overlying portion of the left front panel i2 bybar-tackin 40 disposed closely adjacent the bottom stop 32 of the slidefastener and to the left thereof. This bar-tacking 40 extends throughthe overlapping plies of the left front panel l2, the left slidefastener stringer tape 30, the fly-piece 20 and fly-piece lining 26.This bar-tacking cooperates with the bottom; stop 32 of the slidefastener totally to eliminate the necessity for cross tapes and/ortension members between the fly-piece.

and the trouser panels.

The first double row of stitching 36, 31 and thesecond double row ofstitching 36, 39 are thus in parallellisr'n, as shown in Fig. 6. and arespaced substantially equally at each side of the rows of interlockingfastener members 3| of the slide fastener. The distance between theinner'rows of stitching 36 and 38 determines the width of theabove-described narrow pleats or flaps 2| and 22 which overlie thefastener, and particularly the interlocking fastener members thereof,and as these narrow flaps have been secured together while being formed,there is no question whatsoever of spreading thereof upon the followingoperation which comprises ripping of the above-described basting 24 witha suit-' able tool such as knife 4|. The ripping of the basting 24completes the attachment of the fly assembly shown in Fig. 5 to theattached right and left trouser front panels H and I2.

From the above description, it will clearly appear that we have provideda new and improved slide fastened trouser fly construction wherein theslide fastener is completely concentric with respect to the flyconstruction and wherein the fly construction is completely concentricto the trouser garments. Likewise, it will clearly appear that the slidefastener is disposed along a straight line, which'materially increasesthe efficiency thereof, that the slide fastener is of the regular typeembodying a conventional bottom stop, obviating the necessity for theuse of cross tapes and other tension members, and that the thickness ofthe fly construction is maintained at a minimum, as is the cost thereof.

It will likewise appear that we have provided a new and improved methodof forming a slide fastened trouser fly construction wherein, by the useof basting, as above described, we are enabled to insure full coverageof the slide fastener by a air of relatively narrow abutting flaps orpleats which require no lining or padding.

It is, of course, to be understood that the above description is merelyillustrative and in nowise our invention all modifications includedwithin the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully described our invention, what we claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a method of forming a slide fastened trouser front flyconstruction, basting together complementary edge portions of a pair ofcomfree the fly opening.

- limiting and that we desire to comprehend within pingsaid basting tofree the flaps and the fly opening.

3. In a methodof forming a slide fastened trouser'front flyconstruction, forming a pair 2. In a method of forming a slide fastenedtions of said trouser front panels a fly assembly including a slidefastener aligned with said basting, securing said fly assembly to saidfront panels by stitching spaced from said basting at each of trouserfront panels with complementary fly forming edge portions having themajor part of their edges straight, basting together the straight partof the complementary edge portions of said trouser front panels insuperposed relation, folding over the edge portions of said trouserfront panels beyond said basting, placing over the folded over edgeportions of said trouser front panels a flyassembly including a regularslide fastener with a bottom stop and aligned. with said basting,securing said fly assembly to said front panels by double rows ofstitching spaced from said basting at each side and joined below thebottom stop to form abutting narrow obverse flaps overlying the slidefastener and the bottom stop and temporarily connected by said basting,and ripping said basting to free narrow obverse flaps and the flyopening.

ALBERT B. RHOAD S. WILLIAM D. CRAIG.

